The entire hall fell silent with fear.
Even the sound of breathing vanished.
The air had been sucked dry, leaving only pure fear, so thick it was almost tangible.
For a moment, the students felt they were not taking an exam, but back on the train at the start of last year, encountering Dementors, their souls liable to be sucked away at any moment.
Welby was deathly pale, like a sheet of waterlogged paper. He sat rigidly, not daring to move.
Gryffindor's assistant invigilator, Jack Williams, was leaning against the wall.
The roar startled him so badly that his back struck the cold stone wall.
He immediately stood bolt upright, looking nervously at Moody, then anxiously toward Welby.
He tried to convey a little comfort and encouragement to his classmate with his eyes.
But Moody's magical eye immediately swept toward him.
Jack withdrew his gaze as though shocked by electricity, lowered his head, and stared at the tips of his shoes.
Ravenclaw's Emily merely frowned slightly.
She seemed displeased by the sudden noise, regarding it as a disruption to the orderly examination.
Then she continued her meticulous pacing, her Revealing Mirror reflecting cold light, her gaze sharp as a blade.
Hufflepuff's Augustine, meanwhile, looked pained.
He cast a sympathetic glance at Welby, who was on the verge of tears. His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words in the end.
Slytherin's Victoria Green stood at the very back of the Great Hall.
She raised her eyelids indifferently, the faintest trace of mockery curling her lips.
As though she were watching a boring farce composed of stupidity and fear.
Moody's magical eye began turning again.
But this time, it moved faster, more wildly.
The pressure was immense.
No one dared make the slightest unnecessary